AD Innovator: Mass Design Group

Most architects earn their reputations based on the spaces they create. But MASS Design Group cofounders Michael Murphy and Alan Ricks have garnered as much attention for their practice as for the projects they’ve built. Part design firm, part social enterprise, MASS has a team that includes development researchers and public-health specialists, all working to pinpoint the populations in greatest need and bring them well-designed environments.

Murphy and Ricks started the Boston-based studio in 2008 while still students at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design. Their inspiration came from a lecture by Dr. Paul Farmer, whose aid organization Partners in Health had been building hos-pitals and clinics without much assistance from design professionals. The duo offered to help; their first project, a 150-bed hospital in Butaro, Rwanda, was constructed entirely by local workers using regional materials like volcanic rock. MASS’s methods not only stimulated the district’s economy—providing some 4,000 jobs—but also kept production costs to a minimum by eschewing imported materials.

MASS continues to collaborate with charitable groups and has become a nonprofit itself, drawing nearly as much in donations as in architectural fees. "This isn’t a volunteer endeavor," Ricks says. "We’ve built a viable and thriving model to do important work that has an impact." Aside from the obvious benefits of access to health care and jobs, this impact can be measured in pride, too—for example, when Haitian metalworkers have a personal stake in seeing a Port-au-Prince cholera clinic realized.

While international projects have the partners constantly traveling to their satellite offices in Rwanda and Haiti, they’ve also stepped up their activities Stateside. MASS is joining forces with a social-services agency to fashion a venue for youth programs in Murphy’s hometown of Poughkeepsie, New York, a city facing ongoing economic challenges. "Too often there is a disconnect between communities in need and where architects’ services are focused," Murphy says. MASS is bridging that gap—half a world away and close to home. For more information go to massdesigngroup.org.

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